Dozens Arrested in Russian City Rocked by Protests Against Church Building

5/16/19
Authorities in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg have detained dozens of people as thousands of residents continued to defend a riverside park from plans to build a church on its grounds. Protests against placing the church in the city’s central park entered their third day Wednesday following clashes with defenders of the construction site, which included members of a boxing academy and riot police. The cathedral's opponents say it would take away needed green and recreational space from the city’s 1.5 million residents. Seventy people have been taken into custody during at least 12 hours of rallies on Wednesday, the OVD-Info police-monitoring website estimates. Yekaterinburg police said only 33 people had been detained.

At least four detentions were reported on the first day of anti-church construction rallies Monday, followed by 29 on Tuesday. A court has placed as many as 21 of them under arrest for up to 10 days on charges of petty hooliganism. The church — a replica of a cathedral razed by Soviet Bolsheviks 90 years ago — is part of a major commercial project funded by Yekaterinburg’s metals tycoons, according to project documents. The approved project, financed by Russia’s 24th and 25th-richest billionaires, will include housing and office space opposite the planned church.

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5/16/19
YEKATERINBURG, Russia -- The mayor of Russia’s fourth largest city says construction work on a proposed new church, which sparked three days of protests, has been temporarily halted, hours after President Vladimir Putin said residents should be consulted in an opinion poll. The announcement by Yekaterinburg Mayor Aleksandr Vysokinsky was the latest development in a protest campaign that has rocked the Urals city and drawn support from across Russia. Thousands have protested against city plans to build a replica of a cathedral demolished by Soviet authorities in a popular central park, with 100 people arrested over the past three days. Activists complain that the park is one of the few green spaces remaining the city, and have called for the development to be sited elsewhere. Riot police and members of the National Guard cleared the park of protesters late on May 15. On May 16, they erected extensive barriers and fencing to prevent a new protest.

Earlier May 16, Putin weighed in publicly on the controversy for the first time, saying he supported holding a public survey of city residents. "If people are against it, that opinion must be respected," he said at a forum in the Black Sea city of Sochi. There should be "a survey, and the minority should concede to the majority. That is what democracy is about." Many protesters were skeptical. "Whoever carries out the survey will get the result they want," 33-year-old engineer Aleksei Chopa, who has attended the demonstrations every night since May 13. "Don’t even doubt that [the poll] will be dishonest,” Roizman told the crowd. “But we can influence the situation. The fact that so many people have turned out already is putting serious civic pressure on the situation.” Human rights monitors said many of the detained individuals reported being beaten, some severely. At least one person was hospitalized after being beaten by police. Meanwhile, more than 74,000 people have signed a Change.org petition against the construction of the church, which activists say would deprive them of another public recreation space in a city that already has few.

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5/17/19
YEKATERINBURG — Thousands of residents of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains who have been protesting the construction of a new church in the city’s central park have vowed to keep up their vigil until they hear an official announcement the project has been canceled. The Mayor of Yekaterinburg, Alexander Vysokinsky and local governor Yevgeny Kuivashev on Thursday suspended construction and promised to organize a survey on the plans after Russian President Vladimir Putin weighed into the dispute earlier in the day, saying the people’s opinion had to be taken into account. The events of the last week, which led to clashes between vigilantes and OMON anti-riot police and dozens of detentions and arrests, have led to talk of a new civil society in Russia sparking local activism against big business and the church.

“I remind you that this square was a gift to the city on its 275th anniversary. And now they want to take it away on the eve of the city's 300th anniversary,” former Mayor of Yekaterinburg Yevgeny Roizman told a 6,000-strong crowd late Thursday evening after the announcement of the suspension. “The president has taken on the role of the governor, who should have resolved this conflict. But the governor used the square to settle a debt for some services provided to him personally. I have no doubt that the cathedral will be built. But maybe in a different place.” The crowd greeted Mayor Vysokinsky with shouts of “For shame!” and “Resign!”

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